Same-sex marriages resume in Bakersfield: 'I almost feel numb'

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»Play VideoSame-sex marriages are held Monday, July 1, 2013, at the Kern County Courthouse in Bakersfield, Calif., after years of political and legal battles over the Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage.

Ministers performed the ceremonies at the Kern County Courthouse minutes after gay couples were issued marriage licenses.

“I'm so excited, I almost feel numb," said Jennifer Arnold, who was married Monday in Bakersfield. "It's one of those times in history that you think, 'I was there, we got to be there for the beginning of it,' so it’s overwhelming and exciting.”

Same-sex marriages actually resumed Friday evening at San Francisco City Hall after years of legal back-and-forth, which culminated with a U.S. Supreme Court decision last Wednesday that paved the way for the resumption of gay weddings in California.

A brief overview of what led to Monday's resumption of same-sex marriages in Bakersfield:

Proposition 8 was approved in November 2008 by a 52 percent vote and amended the California Con­sti­tu­tion to ban gay mar­riage. The initiative was an action taken by traditional-marriage advocates after Prop 22, a ban on same-sex marriages that voters passed in 2000, was struck down by the state's high court in May 2008.

The next month, the 3rd District Court of Appeal refused to order then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and then-Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal a ruling that overturned the state's gay marriage ban. A conservative legal group requested the order after the governor and AG refused to defend Prop 8 in court.

In January 2011, The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals said that it cannot decide if the gay marriage ban is constitutional until the state high court weighs in on whether proposition sponsors have authority to defend the measure. The governor and AG refused to defend Prop 8 in court.

The Supreme Court ruled last week - June 26, 2013 - that that defenders of California's gay marriage ban did not have the right to appeal lower court rulings striking down the ban. The court's 5-4 vote left in place the initial trial court declaration that the ban is unconstitutional.